Keeping to the almost deserted side streets, Kenneth and Rollo hurried towards the Hospital of St. Nicholas. Their motor-cycles had gone, being destroyed in the retirement of the 9th Regiment of the Line from the fire-swept trenches.
"What's the programme?" asked Rollo. "What do you propose to do if we find the girls?"
"Clear out," replied Kenneth promptly. "The train service is done; I'm not anxious to enter Holland and cool my heels till the end of this business. We can't expect the girls to tramp twenty miles, with the possibility of being cut off by the enemy; and carts are apparently out of the question. There remains the sea."
"Yes, we may be able to get a passage on a fishing-boat."
"That's not my plan. Do you remember the motor-launch in the shed at the end of Jules de la Paix's garden?"
"Can't see how that can help us," objected Rollo. "We haven't a crew."
"If we can get the motor to start, the worst of the difficulty is over," declared Kenneth. "At the trial, you'll recollect, the sergeant of the Civil Guard reported that the craft was provisioned and ready for sea. He was ordered to refrain from damaging the vessel."
"She may have disappeared."
"We'll soon see."
Kenneth led the way along a dark, deserted alley, till he came to a wall on the top of which was a formidable array of broken glass. This wall marked the side boundary to the spy's premises.